Bernice and her book
I copyedited Bernice’s memoir and she wanted to give me a copy in person. Since she lives in Sydney, she waited until her trip to Melbourne.
We met up in the city, hugged and had lunch under a big, striped umbrella. Then I showed her the stunning Reading Room at the State Library of Victoria. (I love seeing the reaction on people’s faces when they see it for the first time.)
Bernice grew up in Singapore, moved to Adelaide to study medicine in her late teens and has lived here ever since. While working as a doctor with asylum seekers at the Woomera detention centre, she was horrified at how fellow humans were being treated and ended up becoming a Member of the South Australian parliament to advocate for refugee rights. She’s a firecracker and a curious, excitable person. I really enjoyed working with her and am so grateful that she feels the same.
She told me that of the people who had worked with her on the early drafts of her memoir, she felt like I was the one that cared the most about her story and making it the best it could be. I remember that when I sent Bernice the last version of her manuscript, I told her that I thought her family would think of her memoir as treasure because she shared a lot of her life and thoughts in it. When we met up last week, she said that they really love it.
That makes me so happy.